Childproofing Your Home: 5 Ways to Keep Your Child Safe During the Holidays

Childproofing Your Home: 5 Ways to Keep Your Child Safe During the Holidays

It’s the holiday season, and that means family and friends coming together to celebrate, have fun-filled moments, and enjoy each other’s company. That also means your little ones may be exposed to potential dangers in the home if you’ve not taken the proper precaution. In a recent episode of “Keeping Kids Safe,” Karen and Megan discussed many ways to childproof your home and to protect your kids when visiting family and friends for the holidays.

Here are 5 important things you can do to child and baby-proof your home this holiday season: 

  1. Ensure bathroom doors are closed. Bathrooms are filled with potential hazards that pose dangers to both infants and toddlers. Babies can drown in as little as 1 or 2 inches of water, so it’s important to close the bathroom door whenever it’s not in use. This helps to ensure your little ones don’t get exposed to harmful chemicals, sharp edges, and other dangers. See our infant water safety and toddler water safety guides for more bathroom water safety tips.
  2. Check smoke alarms. Setting and monitoring pool alarms is key to maintaining water safety at your home. Similarly, put a calendar reminder every month on your phone to check and test all the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your home. This is a great way to prepare for any surprise accidents and to be sure your family is safe in the event one occurs.
  3. Secure all furniture. Make sure all of your furniture is safely secured to the wall. Furniture tip-overs can be deadly to infants and toddlers and happen more often than we’d think. Did you know over 80% of all furniture, TV, and appliance tip-over fatalities involve children 5 years or younger? It’s important to take the proper precaution now – your peace of mind will thank you for it.
  4. Cover electrical outlets. If you’re headed to a family or friend’s house, it’s important to think about the electrical outlets your little ones might come in contact with. Heading to your local store to pick up electrical outlet covers is an easy fix.
  5. Scanning the room for breakable objects. Doing a sweep of the house to ensure that there is nothing your kids can break or hurt themselves with is a simple but effective way to keep your kids safe.

Listen for more childproofing tips from Karen and Megan by following the “Keeping Kids Safe” podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!


November 22, 2021